- Invincible

One of those tracks which did make noise even commercially right when it came out but then seemed to disappear altogether; very underrated track as far as I'm concerned. Sample is of course Abba's "Name Of The Game" - I heard somewhere that this was the first time they ever cleared a sample, so the Fugees beat Madonna to the punch on that by a long way :o)

Havoc on production on this instrumental of the track from the "Hell On Earth" album.

I know hardly anyone listening knows this one :o) Top remix of Portishead's "Numb" (so the title isn't pronounced how it looks) from the Rebirth Of Cool Phive album, also on the B-Side of the "Numb" 12" I think. The original is great and so's this...I wouldn't necessarily say better but different and just as good.

An underrated gem from the "God's Son" album, Alchemist on production. I don't know if these are definitely rejected rhymes or not, but I love the idea and execution, right down to the sounds of flipping pages. The 'new' verse where he talks about being jealous of his baby daughter is gold.

As you can probably guess from the title, this is a remix of Mos Def's "Ms. Phat Booty," from Pure P's "On My New York Sh*t Pt.2" 12". A bit summery-sounding for the vicious cold weather we've had lately, but maybe that's a good thing...

Something from my archives (originally titled "Seer" until Manchester singer Aileen wrote lyrics to it), keeping the vibe gentle for a few before turning up the heat on the next track!

From Waajeed's "War" LP on Fat City Recordings, big stomping track. Ta'raach is definitely dope on this but Invincible just smashes it with her mic time. Detroit come through with a winner.

A thing of beauty - hardcore, unapologetic Hip-Hop. Hard drums, dope rhymes and some excellent cuts courtesy of DJ Linx who I've never heard before but whose name will certainly ring bells for me now. Attention music industry: more like this please!

Coming in from Toronto is the firestarter himself! He's a very underrated MC who has the ability to blend the Caribbean style with classic Hip-Hop and can hold his own on the mic with anyone; if you heard Episode 1, you'll have heard him sharing vocal duties with the incredible Pharoahe Monch, and in a situation where many MCs would have been annihilated he showed he belonged! If you can get a copy of "Firestarter Vol.1 : Quest For Fire" then pick one up - and if you can get vinyl instead of CD, they're worth a fair bit now...

Gerrard C. Baker on production, for the record - not heard of him previously but this is on the B-side of the "Number 1 Sound" single - "G Walking" rounds out the selection of reggae-flavoured Hip-Hop on that essential 12".

Dancehall riddim borrowing from ODB's "Shimmy Shimmy Ya" and Wu-Tang's "Wu-Tang Clan Ain't Nuthing Ta F' Wit." The vocal track on the other side of this 7" ("Camel" by Dolce & Gabbana) doesn't add anything at all to it truth be told, so the instrumental gets the nod - and usually gets a great reaction when I play it out!

From Rick's 1999 "The Art Of Storytelling" LP, his first full project after his release from prison in 1996 - it should be noted here that he was eventually given a full pardon. In the 80s he was fly and here...still the same! Raekwon guests on this and represents well - maybe after/if the rumoured Kool G Rap & Raekwon album happens, these two should do a project together? "We Will Rob You" was just a tease... (and as an aside, check out this video which came up in the same Youtube search, and watch from 20 seconds in - an inspiration maybe?)

I feel really old realising this tune is 20 years old this year! This is the first Hip-Hop track of this type I can remember, taking beats from popular Hip-Hop records of the time and stringing them together for this instrumental. The last beat is X-Clan's "Heed The Word Of The Brother," sampling Zapp's legendary "More Bounce To The Ounce" which was also famously used on...

...back in 1988. Nothing much to be said about this classic single but if you want a smile brought to your face, watch the video :o) They don't make 'em like that anymore!

From DSP's "In The Red" album on Ninja Tune, only came across this recently despite it coming out in 2002 but there's some interesting stuff on there and this stood out for me - nice to hear Chill Rob G in the modern day! If you didn't know, he was badly ripped off on Snap's "The Power" - summary of the story here.

Oprah's favourite Hip-Hop track...well, maybe not! 2004 12" on Wildlife records, Amed on production and on the vocal version (which you can also find on the "Street Triumph" mixtape), the always-abrasive Freddie Foxxx aka Bumpy Knuckles on the mic.

1973 track from a Ghanaian army band, the African flavour is in full effect but you can here the influence of funk/soul of the time. I got this on a great compilation called "Ghana Soundz," if you're into something a bit different it's worth picking up!

- Crooked I

Great track - if a little short - from Camp Lo's new album "Another Heist," setting things off with a funk vibe. Ski is back on full-time production for them on this album which will please many - personally, I actually liked a good chunk of the Apple Juice Kid production they've had lately (*ducks*) and I love the stuff they've done with Tribeca in the past, hope he makes a return too!

Modern funk maestros with a version of the classic Raekwon cut from the original "Only Built 4 Cuban Linx..." - this is taken from the album "Enter the 37th Chamber" which is a collection of instrumental interpretations of Wu-Tang tracks, definitely recommended - it's on Spotify if anyone wants a listen!

I don't know if anyone else likes this track, but oh well :o) The bells, the bells...

Yes, it's that Genius, aka GZA from the Wu. This is the (almost) title track from his first album "Words From The Genius" on Tommy Boy a couple of years before the Clan emerged on the scene. I first heard this on Pete Tong's Rap Selection on Radio 1 when it came out in 1991, taped it off that show and loved it - with no idea of who this guy was or the huge impact his crew would eventually make on the scene. And Prince Rakeem? For those who don't know, that's the man better known as RZA, the producer and prime mover behind the Wu-Tang movement!

I said on the voiceover that Term is from Boston, but in fact he's from nearby Lawrence, Massachusetts - oops! Anyway, rarely do you see so many guests on a single track, or at least on one that's any good which this certainly is. Fizzy Womack of M.O.P is on production and Statik Selectah adds some very nice cuts.

Classic 80s single from the multi-talented singer/songwriter/pianist/composer/musical director - and it's been sampled plenty of times. Even if you don't recognise her name, you may well know her hit "Forget Me Nots," famously sampled on Will Smith's "Men In Black."

One of those "Dilla before everyone (including me) knew who he was" beats, though that's not to say that when this came out everyone wasn't loving it, and it still moves floors today. The video is also a classic - bit of trivia, they actually had to rhyme all their lyrics backwards to make it work visually, which is quite a feat!

Title track of the second solo album from the former Massive Attack vocal lead, if you see a copy it's definitely worth picking up!

Solo excursion for one of the Souls Of Mischief MCs, one of those B-sides I never get to play anywhere!

A gem from down London town! While there was a little run of American artists using Asian music samples, I always thought it'd be more natural for UK producers to do it since we have a large Asian population and you do hear the music a lot, depending on where you live. Shout out to DJ Reptile of Assmatics who put me up on this track.

I think there's someone rhyming on here, but I'm not sure because my word, that beat is dominating! DJ Premier on production for this absolute banger - it's also one of those beats you couldn't mistake for having being done by anyone else (To be fair, Byata puts in a solid performance as the track goes on). I don't know much about her other than that she's of Russian descent and that she's apparently been on a Wu compilation; if she's done anything else like this, do let me know!

I think this is better than the original, which is how a remix should be; the beat is much darker and Phi Life, as always, absolutely destroy their verses and provide a complementary vocal textures to Blade - all three MCs on this are hall-of-fame level when it comes to British Hip-Hop.

Produced by VIC and Mike Heron of the Ghetto Pros, diggers extraordinaire!

From the home of Hip-Hop! Coming out of the Bronx, Beeks shows the skills over production from Touche on this album cut from "The Crop Report." Still got some stuff we've done together stashed away in the vault, will let you hear some on a future episode if you eat your vegetables ;o)

From "Virgin Ubiquity", a collection of unreleased recordings from the late 70s to early 80s. Picked this one up on a day off work in a sale at King Bee Records down in Chorlton, a familiar spot for Manchester diggers - if I'd not got there until the weekend, it'd have been looong gone! Roy Ayers is an amazing musician and his tracks have provided the backdrop for many a quality Hip-Hop release over the years so it's worth searching out whatever you can find.
PS - I'm not sure what he did in Seattle!

Mid 90s Queens thug flavour from Flush's "Ghetto Millionaire" album, speaking on life locked up. Smooth track produced by EZ Elpee, with the first verse and closing by Nore, who is famously a man who knows of what he speaks...

Khrysis on the boards for this one, this is on the B-side of "Last Laugh" - the uncensored version is only on the "Spirit of '94:Version 9.0" album I think. Not heard much else by Kaze but he rips this one!

Even though I'm just playing the instrumental here, it must be noted that Insight is multi skilled - he's an MC, producer, DJ, does engineering I believe and I've heard he's a software developer! If he learns to take photos too, none of my jobs are safe...

One of the standout tracks from Jeff's second solo album "Return Of The Magnificent," and one of the very few five-star tracks on my iPod! A lot of people just think of Jazzy Jeff as that guy that got thrown out of the house a lot on "Fresh Prince," but as well as being a pioneering and influential DJ he's a very gifted producer and has coached a lot of other up-and-comers via his A Touch Of Jazz studio/company. A quick aside - I'm no expert but when I listen to the actual sonic quality of this track, I feel like there is nothing at all that could have been done better!

A very limited release 7" single out of the Justus League crew with a hilarious take on what a promotional piece for the vintage console would have sounded like if endorsed by RZA and a similarly vintage singer...

A little beat I dug out from a few years ago; I did this in a Swedish hotel room on a little Korg Electribe ES-1 sampler, and as such it's on  my "Swedish Hardcore" beat tape which I might make available sometime if people want it!

I was really, really late on Goldfrapp but thanks to the wonders of the internet started checking them out and found some stuff I really liked on the "Supernature" album, including this track; the "We Are Glitter" remix project has some good tunes on it too. Alison Goldfrapp's voice and those synths go together nice like chicken and rice...

Not a massively well known track by Jay, but I managed to pick this one up in a local charity shop on 12" - this is from the soundtrack to "Black Gangster," based on the Donald Goines book of the same title. Interestingly though I'm not sure the film was ever made - the soundtrack was done first with a view to making the film if it took off! The soulful backing track is provided by Ty Fyffe, someone who's not a huge name compared to many others but always seems to pop up with something good.

A classic UK Hip-Hop single from 1996; Tony Rotton aka Blak Twang with a tough track about the runnings of the inner cities of the UK. It's  our own State of the Nation Address, and it's nothing nice. Thirteen years later and a new government later, has anything really changed?

If there was a Devil, and he had a car with a big system and listened to Hip-Hop, he would play this on repeat - super dark production for real! I've played this tune for a few people and got great response, but no-one seems to have it or even have heard of it, so it was an obvious candidate for inclusion at some point. Turn it up!

Took me a while to appreciate this in its own right after being such a fan of the original but this is a must-have 12" - if not for this, then the killer (no pun intended) B-Side "Murder MCs."

Grimy Brooklyn Hip-Hop from one of the great groups of the 90s. Perhaps besides the mighty "Who Got The Props?" this was my favourite track on "Enta Da Stage" and I played my vinyl copy of this every day for months...

This somehow didn't properly penetrate my consciousness when it first came out, but a couple of friends played it for me last year (shout out to The Mojos!) and this time I was ready; gorgeous track, if you close your eyes and turn the heating up it could make you believe it's summer...quite an achievement for a song coming out of the heart of rainy Manchester!

From the underrated (even by Quik) "Balance & Options" LP, a brilliant piece of laid back production with plenty of flourishes - instrumentation is courtesy of the South Central Philharmonic Orchestra.

A very different track from Cormega to the one I played last month ("No Equivalent"), I've been meaning to play this for a while and found a spot for it here.

Blast from the past - though it doesn't seem like that long ago! 1993 track from the "Who's The Man?" soundtrack which also ended up on Erick's debut solo "No Pressure."

Q-Tip is so well known as an MC (helped by his distinctive voice) that it's sometimes easy to forget his production work; in the early- to mid-90s he did some great beats outside A Tribe Called Quest, with the kind of smacking drums you often don't hear these days!

SoM are best known for their incredible debut single "93 Til Infinity" but this is a great single from their "Trilogy: Conflict, Climax, Resolution" album with a different but yet somehow familiar sound. Their extended crew, The Hieroglyphics were not just ahead of their time with respect to their music but with their recognition of the potential of the Internet in promoting themselves and operating independently.

Excellent MC name :o) Anyway, when you twig to this tune it ought to smack you in the face how genius it is. On first listen I thought "hang on, did he just repeat the first verse?" - then the lightbulb went on and I gave him a mental standing ovation! Floe is part of the North Carolina Justus League collective and certainly shows some super MC powers on this track.

Picked this up in a big stack of reggae/dancehall 7" singles on eBay and it's a bit of a jewel to me - can't get enough of that Jamaica meets the Scottish Highlands flavour! I just have visions of a traditional pipe and drum band skanking along in a dancehall style...

Booming Neptunes production on this B-Side to "Area Codes" - almost forgot about this tune until I came across a used vinyl copy!

Gets bonus points for (coincidentally) using a line I once did a T-shirt design for - "A DJ is not a jukebox!" On the spiritual sequel to his 1996 track "The MC" from the "I Got Next" album the legendary KRS-ONE (for those that don't know - "Knowledge Reigns Supreme Over Nearly Everyone") breaks down the proper place and conduct of the DJ, with particular respect to the culture of Hip-Hop which was of course started by DJs - rhyming came along later, not that you'd think it looking around these days! One of his central points is that it's the job of the DJ to break music to the people, not to just reflect what they think they want to hear - in some small way, I'd like to think this podcast honours that.

- Cormega

One of the best all-round musical talents in Hip-Hop, shout out to Mathmatics for putting me up on him back when the "Dwight Spitz" album came out.

Yes, this is one of my all-time favourite beats. Most people think immediately of the huge bassline as the main focus but I actually think the track is centred around the little bluesy guitar riff - have a listen and see what you think!

Before this record, there were acute shortages of Hip-Hop tracks about BMX bikes. Problem solved :o)
I was really late on these guys, and while not all of their stuff is to my liking this tune is very heavy - deceptive in its simplicity I think!

From the "Mezzanine" album. Piece of background trivia, as told by producer Neil Davidge - apparently the guys used to carry tape recorders everywhere and record whatever might be interesting; this track is based around a snatch of a recording from a Turkish (or was it Moroccan?) market - you can hear it bare just before the main beat comes in.

I read someone on a message board recently say that Cormega is "too manly for this generation", which made me smile - I think a better way to describe him is "no-frills" - he's steadily worked at his craft for years, doesn't have a gimmick and gives a great interview. This is from the Special Edition pack of "The Realness" and "The True Meaning" - which is a top notch album.

Low key headnodder from the Bronx slang-editorialising, diamond heisting, 70s dressing duo; from the B-side of their first single "Coolie High" which is of course a classic - run to hear it right now if you never have before!

Fierce instrumental, produced by Kanye West in his pre-"College Dropout" years. The original version of this track was called "When I Die" - not sure why it was changed for its appearance on the "Godfather Buried Alive" album but the dubbing over of the hook was pretty weak...

RIP Grandmaster Roc Raida. Check out his title-winning performance here.

Unreleased track from the "Off The Wall" sessions - I don't know how this didn't make the album, but this offcut is fifty times better than a lot of other peoples' best track.

It's true, you know. Just one of Zapp/Roger Troutman's killer dancefloor movers. For a funny sampling of this, check out Compton's Most Wanted's "I Don't Dance." As it happens, that tune is really danceable as well!
PS "You dance in the morning when you eat your cornflakes" -  lyrics.

Wilson, Wilson & Wilson with a treatise on communication problems in male-female relationships circa 1984.
I had to convert this from tape - the version on the "Gap Band VI" vinyl is better sound quality of course but a quite different mix, and the beeper noise runs through the entire song and would have driven a lot of you mad...

From their 2003 soundtrack to a film called "Octane" - I only found out about this record a few weeks ago myself!

Taking it old skool for a minute. Note to youngsters - Pete Rock, Biggie, and Tribe are not old skool. This is definitely one of my favourite F5 tracks, tough tough tough! I've never heard anyone else mention it until I found a fellow appreciater on this blog.

One of their best known tracks of course, playing this one as a special request for the man Mr Mari - enjoy!

EPMD (Erick Sermon and Parrish Smith, for those who don't know) are without doubt one of the greatest MC duos of all time and this is probably my favourite track from the 1989 "Unfinished Business" album, although "Get The Bozack" is another killer on there which unlike this was never a single.

This was on the vinyl of the single "Somersault" and is just an irresistible head-nodder; that bassline just sticks in your head.

For the Manchester listeners - no, not the Canal Street in the Village...
The "Cuban Linx Pt.II" album has barely been out of my car stereo since it was released and this is one of the many gems on it - if I hadn't played this, it would probably have been "Surgical Gloves" which is one of the most relentlessly evil beats I've heard in a long time (courtesy of The Alchemist), with Raekwon on the mic coming off almost MF DOOM-ish. As for this, it feels like it came out of a 70s crime film soundtrack, and in a world of autotune and snap beats, thank goodness someone is making tracks like this!

- Garrett

Natural Elements are some of the most talented MCs you'll hear in your life; unfortunately, record company politics meant they never quite got a fair shake. This track is one I personally like (which of course is why it's on here) but it's not even their very best work...find everything you can they've ever been on!

From the "Escape From Television" album, made up of music taken from Hammer's brilliant work on the "Miami Vice" TV series. Everyone knows "Crockett's Theme" and the TV show theme, but this album is well worth picking up.

Spacey DJ Premier beat (but with the usual rock-hard drums), and Reks doesn't waste it!

That third verse has multiple MCs on it and goes on for a while so I cut it short this time; the full list of guests for the whole track is (deep breath) - Lyric, Helixx C. Armageddon, Ayana Soyini, What? What?, Pri Da Honey Dark, Yejide The Night Queen, and Heroine.

Of course, Chuck D is one of the elder statesmen of Hip-Hop (and has been since he started - released the first Public Enemy album at  27) and can always be counted on to bring an adult voice to proceedings - literally and figuratively.

Seriously overlooked crew from Pomona, California, these guys spent years in the metaphorical forest smashing down every tree in sight, but with not enough people to hear the sound. They were doing the G-Funk sound before Dr.Dre, Cold 187 and KMG were a fantastically complementary mic tag team and overall they were just ahead of their time. This is one of those album tracks which I love but have never heard mentioned anywhere, ever.

Allegedly "Volume 3, Beat 5" on a bootleg-looking pressing. If this has been used, let me know!

Dilla (& Q-Tip) double bill! Two of his best smoothed-out remixes - but *do not* sleep on the bassline of that Common track. Try it out on a decent car system if you have one! It's worth noting is that there's also a Dilla remix of BNH's "Saturday Night" which is serious dancefloor business.

The Away Team are Justus League affiliates out of North Carolina, made up of Khrysis (producer) and Sean Boog (MC). I found this online while browsing around for Sean Price stuff I hadn't heard (he features on the same album this track is from, "Training Day") - this plus the track "Awesome" had me ordering a copy the same night!
Just one thing though - "month" and "us" do not rhyme...

The original was a classic of course (with the killer Bumpy Knuckles third verse) but this is a worthy sequel; solid Primo beat and three quality verses.

Killer "impersonation" track where Torae takes on the flow of a different MC every 4 bars; some of them are absolutely dead on! Can anyone name them all?

J-Zone is one of the most original, inventive producers out there as well as a highly entertaining MC. He doesn't actually rhyme himself on the vocal version of this but do seek out his stuff if you like good music and have a sense of humour :o)

One of the standout tracks from Bomb Records' "Return Of The DJ Vol II" - not a super-technical turntablist track but a great piece of production with solid, tight scratching and excellent choices of samples.

Quality album cut from the "C'est Chic" LP.

There's a real clarity to her voice which I love; this is from her first album "Cherry" which is excellent, and the new album "Free" is out at last - definitely worth checking out.

Am I the only one who remembers that the very end of the video for "It Was A Good Day" lead into the start of the video for this one? Top idea. This was in the days of only seeing stuff at a friend's house on "Yo! MTV Raps" though, so I only saw it once or twice myself. However, thanks to the joys of modern technology, someone's put them together for your retro viewing pleasure!

This is from the recent collaboration album "BlaQKout," which isn't consistent all the way through but there are definitely some serious high points, of which this is one - and you know with Quik on production that there'll be some originality coming to the table.

I think I heard this on Radio 1 (on Westwood's show when he still played good stuff) before the "Wild Cowboys" album came out and spent a lot of time rewinding my taped-off-the-radio copy until I got a better one!

From the B-side of the "Dillagence" 7"

This is from their first album, "Mind Over Matter." Zion I are a very interesting group; they're always musically and lyrically interesting and inventive and have managed to carve out a very respectable multi-album career despite not been widely known in many circles; do seek out their stuff.

A dedication for Titus "Baatin" Glover.

Two British Hip-Hop veterans on the mic here. Trivia for those who don't know: when Blade wanted to put out his first LP, he didn't have the money to record and press it, so he appealed for people to order it in advance of it even being made, and they did - mailing him the money strictly on trust. He got the album done, sent all the pre-ordered copies out and thanked all those people individually in the liner notes!

Top-notch verbal onslaught; after you pick your jaw back up off the floor, have a look at the lyrics written out here. They've made some mistakes transcribing it but it seems like all the lyric sites have just copy/pasted from each other so they're all just as bad!

Not a club tune; definitely glad to get a chance to play this one as it'd been on the shelf for years.

Chester Copperpot with LongShot on the mic (see what they did there?)

Originally available on the Japanese release of the "The Impossible: Mission TV - Pt. 1" compilation of unreleased tracks, though this is on a 12" press.

The "Infamy" album wasn't a popular one but when the weather turns cold and the nights get longer, this is an essential headphone track.

I got this 12" for 99p without even listening to it - winner. The other side, "Sands Of Time" is excellent too, though much more laid back.

From the post-Eric B "The 18th Letter" LP, DJ Premier on the production for some classic boom-bap.

The "Vendetta" album wasn't all that but this track cannot be denied.

From the 2004 "My Everything" album on Blue Note; definitely one of my favourite female vocalists, and the title links nicely with the next vocal track in the mix...

Dark and bright all at the same time, this killer track has been getting a lot of play on my iPod lately; the documentary of the same name is well worth checking too, I got it for Â4 on DVD the other day.